I recently took a little time explaining my perspective on Twitter for Churches and a new eBook that had been published and offered up a few tidbits.

I thought I’d continue the conversation and include something that I would have definitely included if I had written the same eBook.

As I’ve mentioned many times before (and you’ll get to hear it a lot), part of being a technoevangelist is being an educator.

One of the things that I’ve learned in my 4 years of seminary education at DTS is about not just understanding the material one’s trying to cover (which is extremely important… no fakers please!) but to also know well the audience that you’re engaging with.

I think that’s something that’s often missed.

Remember the audience. Remember where they are “sitting.” Don’t just tell them that they need it, educate them about it, and let them wrestle with it, let them “figure” it out. When this happens they also can “own” it. That’s a huge win.

One of the charts I often times use is the following. It’s dead on in it’s simplicity and message. I try to ascertain “where” the audience or particular individual is on this loose scale:

If they need a base primer on Twitter then give them a primer. If they need help engaging 1×1 and already have a handle on the service, then give them a briefing on tools that help them do that better. Both scenarios are extremely different, and how you’ll cover the material is just as different.

Essentially, the first thing one does is assess, understand the audience so that you can customize a solution. That’s what any good consultant does and what we should be aiming for as well.

Everyone’s had enough of the pulpit-banging-bible-beating televangelist screaming at us to accept Christ or rot in hell forever and a day. Don’t do the same thing with technology.